


The Scientific Method for Distraction

by GlitterAndDoom



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-27
Updated: 2010-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterAndDoom/pseuds/GlitterAndDoom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam wasn't the greatest student in the world; hell, at any other time, that lone A in English would've been enough to catch him by surprise, but an F? In his music class? College AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Scientific Method for Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** The Scientific Method for Distraction  
>  **Pairing:** Adam Lambert/Tommy Joe Ratliff  
>  **Rating:** SFW  
>  **Summary:** _Adam wasn't the greatest student in the world; hell, at any other time, that lone A in English would've been enough to catch him by surprise, but an F? In his music class?_ College AU  
>  **Warnings:** AU, shameless self-comfort, unbetaed because it's shameless self-comfort written during a late-night angst-fest  
>  **Author's Notes:** So, I checked my mid-term grades one morning and got a nasty surprise from a class I thought I was doing okay in. So, I wrote this. The problem has--hopefully--been taken care of, but without the assistance of a gorgeous roommate, unfortunately.  
>  Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this stuff is all lies.

His heart dropped, and suddenly, he was glad his mom hadn't asked to see his grades. There, amidst the black and white B's and C's and A: an F. Adam wasn't the greatest student in the world; hell, at any other time, that lone A in English would've been enough to catch him by surprise, but an F? In his music class? That class was easy, especially for someone who lived and breathed music. He'd passed the only test with flying colors, he'd never skipped for no reason, he'd...

"Dude, are you okay?"

Somehow, he hadn't even noticed his annoying fucker of a roommate slam into the room this time. His body shook, his lungs didn't want to move, his eyes burned but refused to cry, and all he could think was, _They were right. They were all so right. I'm a useless fucking **failure** ; what the fuck am I doing here?_

"Seriously, Adam? You're scaring me. You look like—" Tommy was right behind him, peering over his shoulders, and Adam wanted nothing more than to close that window and hide it but he couldn't move, and it was too late, and Tommy could already see...Then, Tommy reached over and moved the mouse for him, logging him out, making the grades go away before he wrapped his arms around Adam in a surprisingly tight hug. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"It's not okay." The tears suddenly started falling, and Adam tried to hold them back, but it seemed like everything was coming at once, like a flood of thoughts and words and tears. "I don't know what I did wrong. I thought I was doing okay in that class. I thought everything was fine. I wasn't perfect, but I went to class almost every day, I passed the tests, I did the homework..." Except for that one little assignment, given when he'd had the cold from Hell, that he'd never managed to find the time to finish. His stomach lurched. "I'm an idiot. I'm a total fucking idiot."

"You are not." Tommy squeezed him harder, as hard as his small arms and macho bullshit would allow. Adam snorted.

" _Right_. I'm a music major. I'm a singer. I've studied this stuff so much I could teach that fucking class myself if I had to, and yet I...God, how the fuck could I be so fucking _stupid_ , oh my _God?_ " He pulled out of Tommy's grasp and buried his head in folded arms on his desk. "I _suck_."

"Well, yeah, you do, but not like that." The bed creaked loudly as Tommy sat behind him, but even the slight reassurance that he wasn't a total fatass didn't help. "Could be worse. You could have, like, _all_ D's and F's and stuff. Chill. It's only midterms."

Adam tried to listen, but the words _failure, useless, suck_ kept running through his mind. What if he couldn't fix this? What if he went to the prof and tried to turn the tiny assignment in, and she laughed in his face, said too little, too late? What if it wasn't just that tiny assignment? What if...He whimpered, and Tommy sighed. "C'mere," Tommy said. Adam forced himself to lift his head and face Tommy, even though he couldn't hide his tears any better than he could hide anything else. Tommy scooted against the wall, then he patted the bed beside him and held out his arm. "C'mon."

Legs heavy and shaking, Adam forced himself to cross the short distance over to the bed and to stretch out against Tommy's side. Tommy wrapped his arm around Adam's back and urged Adam to rest his head on a slim shoulder. "You're gonna be okay," he said, gently stroking Adam's arm. "You're smart. You'll get through this."

Adam shook his head, and he sniffled against Tommy's shirt. "I'm not that smart."

"Ha." Tommy squirmed and wriggled until he'd toed his way under the covers, then tugged at them, clearly trying to get Adam to do the same. "You shoulda seen my grades last semester. Surprised they didn't, like, beat me to death with textbooks and journals and shit or something. Fuck, I would've been through the roof over that B. Just breathe, baby."

"I've never made an F before." Adam pulled the covers over his legs and scooted even closer to Tommy. Any closer, and he'd be in his lap, but Tommy didn't seem to mind, just wrapped his other arm around, resting his hand on Adam's side. "Not, like, a _real_ F. I've failed a few tests and stuff like that, but not a whole class."

"You're in college now." Tommy began rubbing his arm again, and Adam tried to focus on the sound of Tommy's slow, steady breathing and the way his tiny voice rumbled in his chest. "You're not gonna pass everything."

"But I know that shit! I know—" Before Adam could finish, Tommy's lips were on his, demanding and surprisingly soft. Adam sat still, stunned, his eyes wide and his mind and body frozen, brought to a screeching halt. Tommy crawled onto his lap and spread both hands against Adam's neck, forced his tongue into the tiny gap between Adam's lips, and it finally dawned on Adam that holy fuck, his pretty, annoying, straight, asshole roommate was _kissing him_ , and maybe, just maybe, he should kiss back.

Tommy tasted of stale coffee and peanut butter and sharp, cold Carmex, and it was kind of gross, but Adam couldn't imagine that he tasted any better, and there was that undercurrent of something else, something addictive and unmistakeably Tommy. It was an awkward kiss, full of clashing teeth and tongues and Tommy's bony knees digging painfully into Adam's thighs, but Adam closed his eyes and gave himself over to it entirely, letting his hand slide up to cup Tommy's head while the other slipped down to the small of his back, letting his lips move, letting his tears and his stupidity and his failure and his F fade away into something insignificant, because the fat, freckly redhead was being kissed by the ridiculously pretty boy who was kind of exactly his type and not such an asshole, and maybe, just maybe, everything would be good.

Finally, Tommy pulled away, slowly, and rested his forehead against Adam's. They breathed each other's air, chests heaving, and Tommy traced a thumb over Adam's throbbing lower lip. "Had to shut you up somehow. You gonna be okay?" Tommy whispered.

Adam swallowed the lump in his throat, but it didn't go away. Somehow, he remembered how to speak, and said, "I think so." He drew in a shuddering breath, and he added, "I hope so."

"You _will_." Tommy's eyes met his, and Tommy looked like he believed it, so for a moment, so did Adam. Tommy pressed another kiss to Adam's lips, then he climbed off the bed, throwing the covers off them both, and picked up Adam's backpack. "Now, we're gonna fix this."

Somehow, Adam managed not to say, _And if we can't?_ Instead, he asked, "And then what?"

Tommy grinned, and he sat the bag by Adam's feet, then leaned in and gave Adam another kiss. "Well, maybe you'll get something else decent out of it, too."


End file.
